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by Annwyd



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-11
Updated: 2011-07-11
Packaged: 2017-10-21 06:26:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/221940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annwyd/pseuds/Annwyd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose mounts a suicide mission. Kanaya, more practically, plans something else entirely.</p>
            </blockquote>





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**TT: Ok, Kanaya.  
TT: I'm just waiting on you now. What was it you wanted to say to me?**   
**GA: What If I Dont Want To Tell You So You Wont Leave  
GA: Have You Considered That Possibility  
GA: Perhaps Im Not Willing To Assist You In A Mission That Will Lead To Your Death**   
**TT: What a hilariously unlikely thought. It never crossed my mind.**   
**GA: Rose We Are Distinctly Past The Point In Our Relationship Where Sarcasm Is Useful For Defusing These Situations  
GA: Wait  
GA: That Was A Poor Word Choice**   
**TT: I thought it was clever.  
TT: You can't defuse the Tumor. I have it, and you're in another session. I've also already left for the Green Sun. Your impotence is poignant.  
TT: You probably shouldn't tell Dave I used that word.  
TT: Were you going to tell me something important or just try to stop me?**   
**GA: You Wouldnt Have Bothered Talking To Me If You Didn't Want Me To Try To Stop You  
GA: I Have Gleaned This From My New Understanding Of The Human Psyche  
GA: And Perhaps Yours In Particular**   
**TT: Also hilariously unlikely. I'm going to go now.**   
**GA: I Simply Wanted To Give You A Captcha Code  
GA: I Made You Some Equipment That Will Ensure Your Safety Up Until The Point Of Your Inevitable Demise  
GA: Which Was A Bit Silly Now That I Think About It  
GA: I Appear To Have Succumbed To Some Human Sentimentality**   
**TT: Shocking. Is there a point to this?**   
**GA: Yes  
GA: The Path To The Green Sun Will Be Dangerous And I Should Remind You I Am The Sylph Of Space So I Know These Things**   
**TT: That had occurred to me, amazingly enough.**   
**GA: Rose  
GA: Wear The Scarf**   
**TT: What?**   
**GA: 016D0DXO**

* * *

The scarf appeared on the alchemiter without fanfare, because it had no speakers attached to it and thus could not play a fanfare. It was just a scarf. It was a deep green velvet, with feathery black fringes.

Rose picked it up and examined it. It didn't appear to have any tricks hidden inside it to disarm The Tumor. She was the Seer. She was pretty sure she could See if there was a trick that would foil her plans. Kanaya had been honest. It would be stupid to be disappointed about that.

There was just one problem.

* * *

 **TT: Kanaya, I already have a scarf.**   
**GA: Thats Not A Problem**   
**TT: It's important to me.**   
**GA: I Know**   
**TT: And?**   
**GA: Give Me A Moment  
GA: Put The Scarf On The Sendificator**   
**TT: Ok.  
TT: It disappeared. Where is it?**   
**GA: Of Course It Disappeared  
GA: You Put It On A Thing Meant For Making Things Disappear  
GA: That Is What Happens**   
**TT: Where is it?**   
**GA: I Have It  
GA: I Am Going To Hold Onto It For You**   
**TT: Ok.  
TT: So this was a trick to get you a memento of me to keep after I die.  
TT: I guess I'm ok with that.  
TT: It's a little morbid. I like it.**

* * *

"Are you going to use that scarf to mop up blood?" Karkat asked. "Because that's a thing we could use right now. Fuck."

"No," Kanaya said. "I'm afraid I'm going to keep this scarf very clean."

Karkat lifted his hands to clutch at his head. "Is this really the time for your flushed feelings, Kanaya?"

"This isn't about my flushed feelings," Kanaya said.

"It's about your flushed feelings," Karkat said.

"Perhaps slightly," Kanaya said. "But I'm taking a very practical course of action here. It involves keeping the scarf clean."

"Whatever," Karkat said. "Do you have something else to mop up blood with?"

"Of course," Kanaya said as she produced an oversized sweatshirt with a Squiddle on it and handed it to him.

"I wish more people appreciated how reliable you are," Karkat said. "You should think about getting flushed for someone who does someday, instead of all these flighty broads with their snarky musclebeastshit." He paused. "Sorry, Kanaya."

"I am actually quite all right with your accurate assessment," she said. "But I believe I can handle them now."

"All right," he said. "But if they get too fucking flighty I'll step up."

* * *

 **Lastly, to Dave Strider, I most emphatically do not leave my fanfiction. That will die with me. You are not to make any attempt to seek it out.**

Rose paused in her typing. This seemed like a little too transparent an attempt to use reverse psychology to ensure the survival of her writing while washing her hands of responsibility for it. But she didn't really have the time to try anything more complex.

 **P.S. Kanaya, I'm sorry you couldn't rescue me. I won't get sentimental, but I dislike making a friend feel that helpless. I'm glad you have the scarf.**

It seemed like she really should have said more to Kanaya. But it was kind of late for things like, "It seems a little strange to call you a friend, but I'm certain that I want to call you something," or, "I wish I could have actually met you." This would have to be enough.

Rose hit the POST button and got up from the computer. It was time to get ready.

First things first. She tied the new scarf carefully around her waist. She hadn't thought it would go with her outfit at first, but it actually looked rather nice.

* * *

"Excuse me," Kanaya said. "I'm going somewhere private. You may not wish to follow me. Sollux, I think Aradia will be meeting you soon. She'll handle this from there. I have business to attend to."

"It's a date, isn't it," Karkat said. "You're going on a fucking date and leaving us here with all the blood."

"It's not a date," Kanaya said.

"All right," Karkat said. "I guess I can't talk. Sloppy makeouts are going to happen here."

"I can't tell you how glad I am I can't see them," Sollux said.

"It may become a date," Kanaya acknowledged. "But first, it will be a rescue."

* * *

The Green Sun was nearly blinding up close. Rose supposed she shouldn't have been surprised by that. She had always thought it would just kind of pulse and glow a bit. But now that she was here, it was overwhelmingly bright. This was most likely, she suspected, a psychological metaphor revealing that she wasn't nearly as ready to face her own death as she'd thought she would be. It was a good thing no one could see her starting to get nervous. If they could, though, she would tell them that of course she was sweating: she was standing right in front of a giant sun.

Also, the giant fucking bomb she was carrying was twenty-nine seconds from going off. Wait, now it was twenty-six seconds from going off. Twenty-four.

Rose really wished Jaspers were here. He'd already died, so it wouldn't be such a big deal to ask him to die again, would it? For that matter, it kind of seemed like everyone she knew had already died at least once. Except Kanaya. That almost seemed too bad. Maybe if Kanaya could die once, she'd be more likely to start taking matters into her own hands instead of letting Rose go off on a suicide mission like this.

It was way too late to be having thoughts like this. Seven seconds. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two.

The scarf lit up.

* * *

Rose fell out of the blank sky of the Veil and plummeted down to the meteor. It would probably have been bad if Kanaya hadn't leapt through the air to catch her in mid-fall. Fortunately, Kanaya did leap through the air to catch her in mid-fall.

"Hello, Rose," she said.

"Kanaya," Rose said. "I guess I'm dead."

"You're entirely incorrect," Kanaya said. "Remember, I am the Sylph of Space. And you should be more careful about accepting gifts from strange trolls in the future. In fact, I think you will be. I won't be able to save you that way again."

"Why am I in your arms?" Rose asked.

"Because you fell into them," Kanaya said.

"That isn't a very good answer," Rose said.

"This was where the scarf sent you," Kanaya said. "Because your scarf was already here. I had it all planned out. I thought it was very clever."

"Okay," Rose said. "You win this round. What now?"

"I see you aren't going to thank me for saving your life," Kanaya said. "I apologize for how sudden it was, but I felt it was necessary."

"I'm still in your arms, Kanaya," Rose said.

"That's correct," Kanaya said. "I am now going to do something that one does with someone in one's arms."

Rose prepared to ask what that something was. She prepared much better than she had prepared for going to her death. So it was a shame she didn't need to ask.

Kanaya kissed her.


End file.
